Ikaruga. Will I like it?

[mako72]

It was the first game that got me into shmups. The only problem with that is I am now on an endless search to find a game as good as Ikaruga. Most good shmups are fun for a few minutes. I like them and then never return. Ikaruga is the only one that I always return to. The music is great. the sounds are great.. everything is great. Radiant Silvergun is good but too long in my opinion. I got sick of playing that game for an hour just to die at the same spot at the end. Also am I the only one who thinks Ikaruga is NOT hard? Ikaruga doesn't have any lame stray bullets that come out of nowhere. Everything is predictable and can clearly be seen. Seriously I think games like 1941 and gradius are much harder.

[Curlypaul]

I've been playing more and more shooters lately, mainly thanks to Geometry Wars, and I've been wondering about whether this should be on my wants list. After reading your comments, I think it is

[ott0bot]

You can describe it all you want, but Ikaruga really needs to be played to be understood. It's a pretty simple system but the context of the levels make it get pretty chaotic pretty fast. As a hard core shmup compared to RSG or DoDonpachi, I think it falls a little short. But combined with the puzzle aspect it makes a highly enjoyable and difficuly experience. Don't play on easy, you'll be wasting your time. Having the enemies shoot back there repective colors is the only way to boost up you power and get decent chains going.

Basically...play this game, its great. One of Treasures finest.

[gennss]

basically easy to get into hard to master.

[Gamerforlife]

Ikaruga is the last game in the world I'd introduce to someone new to shmups. WAY too hard for an entry level shooter. You'd probably have an easier time with Radiant Silvergun, and even that is pretty damn hard.

[gennss]

Ikaruga is the last game in the world I'd introduce to someone new to shmups. WAY too hard for an entry level shooter. You'd probably have an easier time with Radiant Silvergun, and even that is pretty damn hard.

Gunbird 2 is silly but easier. but seriously the first couple of levels of ikaruga are doable... the rest is hell. Shikigami no shiro has varying difficulty based on the character(ie: playstyle) and triggerheart has boss adjust depending on how well u do. i burned through easy mode using a few continues on my first sitting (normal mode 1cc is hell i luv it)

[Pulsar_t]

For newcomers to shmups I'd recommend Ether Vapor. It has eye candy and is a bit easier than "recent" shmups.

[RackGaki]

Agreed. I'm going to be a jerk for a minute and say that calling Ikaruga a "puzzler" is a stupid statement.

Calling Ikaruga a puzzler doesn't fit at all, but I see where he gets it. He's probably referring to the chaining system.

For those who don't know, the main scoring system of Ikaruga is based upon killing enemies of a single polarity in groups of three. The longer you kill enemies in groups of three according to their polarity, the higher your score. You break the chain when you destroy an enemy of the opposite polarity you are working on - for instance, killing five black enemies, then one white one.

The real "puzzle" of Ikaruga is figuring out where you need to put your ship at any given point in the game, and who to shoot when. At least if you care to maximize your score.

You could always throw the entire chaining system to the curb and credit-feed your way to the end, but that will still take you a few hours at least. I would estimate that it takes most people 30 - 90 hours to 1cc Ikaruga, and nearly every one of those people can get chains of 100 or more in each level.

Bottom line to the OP - Ikaruga is considered by many to be the pinnacle of shoot 'em ups, but that doesn't mean you need to start there. Throwing you to the wolves is what it would amount to.

At the same time, when I first played Ikaruga, I hadn't played a shoot 'em up since Gradius III.

[sonikjesus]

So I tried it and thought it was good. Passed the first level but I stopped on the second after I died like 10 times. It is worth noting that I can tell why people like it. The design is genius.

I'm worried that since this is the first top down shooter I've actually sat down and played, I'll expect all of the genre to be as good as it. Or, in other words, in my view, I'll see this as being normal for the genre. Maybe as I play more of theses games I will come to see how great Ikaruga truly is.

I'm thinking of downloading 1942:Joint Strike on my 360, would you guys recommend it? What other games would you guys recommend in this genre. Keep in mind, I only have a Saturn, Dreamcast, and 360.

[ZenLogikos]

I'm thinking of downloading 1942:Joint Strike on my 360, would you guys recommend it? What other games would you guys recommend in this genre. Keep in mind, I only have a Saturn, Dreamcast, and 360.

Oh, just the three best (360 is getting there) shmup-having consoles in existence(assuming you can play imports)? Shouldn't be too hard. Racket has several write-ups for quality shmups on these consoles.